PM Abe calls on Japanese businesses to learn from Nintendo, netizens skeptical

At a recent budget meeting in the Japanese Diet, a member asked Prime Minister Abe to explain his growth strategy. As you probably know, the prime minister has been focused on improving the Japanese economy, though he’s not having the greatest of luck. As Abenomics–the cheeky name given to Abe’s economic policies–fluctuates in and out of favor, many are wondering if it’s working at all. We’re not sure the Prime Minister’s response is going to assuage anyone’s fears…

▼ Diet Member Yamamoto and someone apparently taking a nap

During a meeting of the Japanese Diet’s budget committee, one member, Junzo Yamamoto, asked Prime Minister Abe to explain his strategy for growing the economy.

▼ Prime Minister Abe and some other people apparently taking naps

The Prime Minister answered with an anecdote about one of the most famous Japanese companies in the world: Nintendo.

“For example, there’s this company called ‘Nintendo.’ They used to make playing cards, but the number of people using their cards was going down and down. However, while this company called Nintendo made things like playing cards, they started to realize that if they only made playing cards they wouldn’t be able to protect themselves. So they started using IT and developing cutting-edge game systems. At the same time, they were able to protect their traditional playing cards. This is a point that we should learn from, I think.”

We have to hand it to the guy, that’s a pretty powerful message. Move into the future with new technology and use the extra money to protect your traditional products. And, yes, Nintendo does still make those playing cards.

▼ Nintendo playing cards! We bet they’d sell better with a few Mario pictures…

However, it looks like not everyone is impressed with the politician’s response. In fact, some Japanese Internet commenters are positively aghast!

What a disgrace!

Maybe he means Nintendo when they were succeeding.

They used to be great. Now they’re worthless.

Nintendo and the like are an embarrassment, so stop that!

How are we supposed to learn from Nintendo while they are in decline? LOL

Japan is finished! Ahead is only total darkness!

What? Is he saying that we shouldn’t mess up like Nintendo is doing? (I’m so confused!)

For example, Nintendo has many titles that have sold tens of millions of copies over the years, but they’re in the red. Good luck, guys!

He’s offering Nintendo at the height of their success as an example, so I don’t think he’s made a mistake. But I do wish he’d try to grasp the current situation.

He said we should learn from Nintendo–he didn’t say we should learn from the current Nintendo!

If Nintendo is ruined, Japan is ruined!!

Well, as you can see, there are plenty of Nintendo nay-sayers, even in Japan. While the company certainly is going through a rough period, we certainly don’t think they’re down and out yet. That said, just as a reminder, we are not responsible for your stock-picking decisions! But maybe Prime Minister Abe could have chosen a better example…like Sega and the Dreamcast. That would have definitely gotten people’s spirits up!